Congressional candidates talk environment during forum

Wednesday

Climate change, pesticides, public lands, and yes, even plastic made from potatoes.

All are issues not often brought up political debates — particularly the latter — but they were front and center at an environmental forum for candidates for the 1st Congressional District at the Northampton Library Tuesday night.

The event was organized by the newly formed group Bucks Environmental Action, and gave about 75 attendees a chance to hear from four of the district's candidates on a range of subjects.

"Environmental issues have never had the spotlight they deserve during campaign season," said BEA co-founder and forum moderator Sharon Furlong as she opened the event.

For two hours, Democratic candidates Steve Bacher, Rachel Reddick, and Scott Wallace, as well as Republican challenger Dean Malik, fielded questions created by the group's officers and those submitted by residents of the district ahead of time. Incumbent Brian Fitzpatrick, of Middletown, could not attend due to an unspecified prior engagement, his campaign said.

Each candidate molded their responses more or less to the ongoing dynamic of their campaigns. Bacher, of Lower Makefield, touted the fact he's lived in the district the longest, working on environmental issues, serving as co-chair of Bucks County Community College's sustainability team, and previously serving on the Newtown Township Environmental Advisory Council.

"Will all due respect to all the good work of my opponents ... I'm the one who has been fighting for these issues here in Bucks County for the past 10 years," Bacher said.

Reddick, of Bedminster, focused on wanting to roll back the environmental agenda of President Donald Trump. She also touted her active duty Navy experience and recalled a mission to the Pacific island nation of Kiribati, which scientists say could be underwater by 2050 due to rising seal levels.

Wallace, of Buckingham, delivered ideas gleaned during his career working within the federal government and at the head of the Wallace Global Fund, an international nonprofit established by his grandfather and former U.S. Vice President, Henry Wallace. In that vein came the potatoes to plastic story, as Wallace talked about a company that turns poor-quality potatoes in Dubai and West Africa into environmentally friendly plastics.

"Every piece of plastic that is sold in a consumer product in America should be made out of biodegradable, potato-based plastics," Wallace said.

Malik who has campaigned as a staunch conservative, acknowledged that he likely disagreed with most of the forum's attendees on environmental issues. However, he said Americans have an "ethical responsibility to pass clean air and water on to our children."

"Where I differ ... is that (I) believe government should not pick winners and losers, and should not be in the business of driving people out of jobs," Malik said.

On the issues, questions focused on climate change, renewable energy, and public land policies, with each candidate given two minutes to discuss their position.

To combat climate change, Bacher advocated strongly for a "dividend and fee" system that would tax carbon emissions and return funds to consumers to purchase more energy efficient projects. Reddick said she believed in eliminating any federal subsidies benefiting the fossil fuel industry and re-affirming regulations such as the Clean Power Plan, an Obama-era plan to decrease carbon emissions in the power sector.

Wallace said he believed in a slow process of building consensus around climate change and other scientific issues among members of Congress, in order to win enough support for legislation.

"You don't get it by pounding the table ... you have to build it brick by brick," Wallace said.

Malik stopped short of contesting the wide consensus among climate scientists that the planet is warming primarily because of human activities, hinting only that the climate has changed throughout Earth's history. He said "everyone" agrees we should stop pollution, but that he was opposed to government subsidies to promote change that Bacher proposed.

Later, Bacher revisited the debate by saying policies such as the Clean Power Plan are effective in achieving objectives.

"The federal government has to mandate that," he said.

When asked, all candidates said they were generally opposed to local hot button issues such as the proposed PennEast pipeline and Elcon hazardous waste treatment facility in Falls. That included Malik.

"People who live in the 1st Congressional District should not be subject to environmentally hazardous activity, and I would want to take a very close" look at the projects, Malik said.

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.